Grillo MP calls president extreme insult, sparks political storm

(By Christopher Livesay)
(ANSA) - Rome, January 28 - An MP from the 5-Star Movement
(M5S) sparked a political firestorm Tuesday by calling President
Giorgio Napolitano, a favorite target of the anti-establishment
party, one of the worst insults in Italian, for not intervening
in a controversial government decree, upping the group's drive
to impeach the head of State.
"The executioner Napolitano is endorsing a series of
actions to sew the mouth shut of the opposition," said Giorgio
Sorial, announcing a letter sent to the president.

Along with other opposition parties, the M5S, led by
firebrand comedian Beppe Grillo, is working to filibuster a
decree that aims to sell off 100 billion euros in central-bank
gold reserves to help ease Italy's economic woes.
The decree passed a House confidence vote Friday and must
be voted on again by Wednesday in order to become definitive.
House Speaker Laura Boldrini, of the center-left Democratic
Party (PD), is ready to bring the bill to a vote, where it is
likely to pass, before each MP has a chance to speak, thus
forcing an end to the filibuster.
In their letter to the president, the M5S says this
violates the Constitution and accuses Boldrini of continuing to
do so by taking direct orders from Premier Enrico Letta, also
from the PD, and calls on Napolitano to intervene.
The anti-establishment party has increasingly held
Napolitano, the first president in history elected to a second
term, responsible for the country's problems since the start of
the euro crisis, vowing to impeach him.
Premier Letta lashed out at the M5S for the slur against
the president.
"The M5S's shameful attack on Napolitano is a point of no
return, extremist in nature and unacceptable for those who
practice the principals of democracy," said Letta on Twitter.
The new head of the center-left Democratic Party (PD) also
leapt to Napolitano's defence.
"Such behaviour is unbearable and a form of stupidity, more
so even than verbal abuse," said Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi on
Facebook, expressing his "solidarity" with the president.

But amid the chorus of outrage from various political
parties, no apologies came from the M5S.
One of its MPs even doubled down on the remark.
"What should Giorgio Sorial apologize for?" said Manlio Di
Stefano on Facebook.
"Did it seem excessive to call King George an executioner?
Well, we'll see about that.
"An executioner is someone who kills a convict, and
Napolitano is accused of killing someone or something...(in this
case) democracy, the Constitution, the Italian people, and
justice.

"If 'executioner' seems excessive to you, find an adjective
that encapsulates all of these crimes against the Italian
people".

In their campaign against what they deem a fundamentally
corrupt government, the M5S sees Napolitano as the source of
much of the country's ills.
Their drive to impeach the 88-year-old comes from his
alleged illegitimacy as president, having been elected to an
unprecedented second seven-year term in April amid government
gridlock.
In his year-end address in December, Napolitano took a jab
at his detractors in the M5S, vowing not to bow to "insults and
threats".

"I'm careful to consider any objective and respectful
criticisms or reservations about my work, but I will not be
influenced by slanderous campaigns, insults and threats," he
said.